A day with the crazy Peugeot Onyx

Made out of papier mâché and felt, the Onyx is a crazy concept with more than a hint of reality

Seatbelts on, and it's time for an engineer and I to perform the two-man job of firing the Onyx up. The car begins to make sense now, sat here in the cockpit and performing the start procedure. Finally, there is a little bit of familiarity to contrast with the otherworldly materials - nothing major, but at least we've got three pedals, and seatbelts.

Dip the heavy clutch, and push the start button on the wheel. The Onyx starts to turn over. Wait for the engineer to turn the ignition on. It fires, but not smoothly. There's no instant catch, and the diesel sounds rough and rattly at idle, as if it's itching to get going. These are racing-car character flaws, which, weirdly, bode well.